Horace Long's Cabin Mystery Cache

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Mr.Charlie: Five years was a good run. Thanks to all who visited.

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Hidden : 4/15/2008
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:


This geocache has been placed with permission of the Site Superintendent of Moraine Hills State Park. It was approved with the requirement that you hunt it from the main park road. To avoid damage to the fragile ecosystem you may not attempt to access this cache from the trail system. Parking is not permitted along the road. You must access the cache by parking in a designated lot and walking along the road. You must access the final cache location from the road or your find will be disallowed and removed. Thank you for your cooperation.

The cache is not at the listed coordinates. You can park at these coordinates and walk to the final cache location.

McHenry County was originally the home of the Potawatomie Indians. A treaty signed with the Federal government vacated their ownership as of August 1836. Many settlers did not wait for the legal right to the land and began moving in early. The area was first contained in the boundaries of Cook County, but when the population expanded and had no easy access to Chicago, the residents lobbied for creation of a separate county. McHenry County was formed of present day Lake and McHenry counties and was named after Major William McHenry, a hero of the recent Black Hawk War. Centrally located in the middle of the county, the village of McHenry was named the county seat on May 10, 1837.
Sometime in either 1836 or 1837, Horace Long moved to McHenry County from his home in Vermont where he was born in 1804. He built a cabin out of stones he pulled from the ground and hand hewn logs from the nearby hills. It was not large but comfortable, and suited his needs for his first years in the area. In 1838 he built a small hotel in McHenry and moved into town. He married Lodema Salisbury from New York on November 10th 1840. Their marriage license was the seventy-first issued in the county. In 1842, their daughter Laura was born. James was born on October 4th 1845, but he died on January 23rd, 1848. Edwin was born a year after his brother’s death.

In 1838, when he moved into town, Horace Long became active in the local community. He was appointed as the government agent responsible for the construction of the local courthouse. McHenry was the county seat and needed a suitable structure for governmental affairs. Agent Long purchased 125.75 acres west of the Fox River where Veteran’s Park is now located and contracted the work to build the courthouse to Rufus Soules and Caleb Davidson. It was completed in 1840 and the first Commissioner’s meeting was held on August 5th of that year.

While centrally located in the large county, McHenry was not convenient to residents of the eastern half who lobbied to create their own county. On March 1, 1839, Lake County was officially created from the eastern portion of the county. The village of McHenry was now on the eastern edge of the county and so in 1843 the county seat was moved to Centerville, which was later renamed Woodstock.

Since the courthouse was no longer needed for official business, an auction was held on January 8, 1844. Sheriff Henry Wait sold the building to Horace Long who moved it east to a lot near the river. He turned it into a hotel and tavern and lived there with his family until his death on September 23rd, 1878. The building still stands and has housed a hotel or tavern almost continuously since 1844. It has been known under various names including the McHenry House and Mansion House. The current establishment is called the Town Club.

You can still find the remnants of the foundation Horace Long built for his cabin when he moved to the area. You just need to know where to look.

To find Horace Long's Cabin and the cache:

You will need to build the coordinates using information located on this page.
The cache is located at N42 19.ABC W88 13.DEF

A= The courthouse was first used on August 5, XXXA.
B= Horace Long moved out of his cabin in XXBX.
C= The plaque at Veteran's Park marking the original site of the county courthouse was dedicated on June C, 1986.
D= James Long was D years old when he died.
E= Horace and Lodema Long were married in 1840, using marriage license No. XE.
F= Laura Long was born in XXXF.

When you find the cache, please do not disturb the site. The cache container is in plain sight. You do not need to move any rocks.

While it isn't necessary to find the cache, I would encourage you to visit the waypoints listed below. They will take you to the past and current site of the county's first courthouse and the grave of young James Long. History is all around us if you know where to look.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources required statement:
  • 1. Geocache is placed on Department-managed property with permission.   

  • 2. Do not place the following items in the Geocache:
           Food items, inappropriate, offensive, or hazardous materials.

  • 3. It is the visitors' responsibility to orient themselves with policies
           and rules pertaining to this Department-managed site.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Va gur jnyy, cnvagrq gb ybbx yvxr n ebpx.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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